Know Your Assignment Requirements
Research Assignment and Instructor Expectations
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Completed by due date (the Research Project Calculator can help you plan to finish on time)
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Length of finished product
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Sources selected and used
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References/citation form
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Organization and flow of ideas
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Writing skills
Topic Selection
- Select/define/refine/focus your idea
- Brainstorm
- 5 Ws (who, what, why, when, where) and how
- Determine if you will be able to cover all the important points of your topic in the space you have to fill
Developing a Search Strategy
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Once you have chosen a topic, write it down in the form of a question or brief statement:
What was the influence of the Ottoman Empire on the art & architecture in Venice? -
Underline the key words and phrases that are most specific to your topic.
What is the relationship between Ottoman and Venice? -
Write down each key word or phrase, and underneath it, list synonyms or related terms.
Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find additional keywords. For example:
| Ottoman | Venice | Arts |
| Turkish Turk | Northern Italy | painting architecture sculpture |
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Think about the singular, plural, and other endings of words and write down the root of the word.
Art Architecture arts artists church churches basilica -
Write down your key words and phrases along with their synonyms in the form of a Boolean search statement. Use the root word, and truncate it with an asterisk (*). Note: Different databases use different truncation or wildcard symbols. Check the database's help page. For example:
(Art or painting or sculpture) and (turk* or ottoman) and (church* basilica)
Find a Book on the Shelves
- Check the Status field of the book's record in the catalog.
- IN LIBRARY - book is available for checkout.
- DUE + date - book has already been checked out.
- The Location field shows the general location of the book.
- Most books are on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
- For other locations, check the location codes table.
- The Call # field gives the book's call number, which serves as the book's address in the library. Each row of books on the 2nd and 3rd floors will have a sign at the end indicating which call numbers can be found on that row.
How to Read Call Numbers
Scholary Journals (Peer-Reviewed/Referred)
Peer-reviewed/Referred 
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thors are authorities in their fields. - Authors cite their sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies.
- Individual issues have little or no advertising.
- Articles must go through a peer-review or refereed process.
- Articles are usually reports on scholarly research.
- Illustrations usually take the form of charts and graphs.
- Articles use jargon of the discipline
Evaluating Print & Electronic Resources
World Wide Web sites come in many sizes and styles. How do you distinguish a site that gives reliable information from one that gives incorrect information? Below are some guidelines to help.
For both print and Internet resources, consider:
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Authority |
Types of Web Sites: the url is a key
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.gov |
Art Writing
Writing Guides
- A short guide to writing about art/ Sylvan Barnet.
- Location: Reference N7476 .B37 2011
- Writing about art / Henry M. Sayre
- Location: FLOOR3 BOOK N7476 .S29 2002
- Writing for the visual arts / Mashey Maurice Bernstein.
- Location: FLOOR3 PE479.A76 B47 2001